


What Must Be Done

by lexarga



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Hurt/No Comfort, [slaps fic] this bad boy can fit so much angst in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27911494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexarga/pseuds/lexarga
Summary: In which shipping real people goes horribly wrong.Yeah... ngl this is a weird one.Written as part of the Prompts Anonymous event in the jv's mlb minigames discord server!
Kudos: 17
Collections: 2020 JV Art and Fic Trade





	What Must Be Done

**Author's Note:**

> The Prompts Anonymous event paid another visit to the jv’s mlb minigames discord!! This is the second piece I wrote, based on some really cool art by zazzlejazzle! Massive thanks to everyone who took part and helped organize it!  
> Please go check out the other works from this event!

The fight was proving to be tougher than expected.

The heroes were tired, desperate, and running out of options. Chat Noir was hanging by one wrist on a floating, heart-shaped cuff, and Ladybug was shackled to a building with a similar contraption. Akumas were always weird, they were quirky; every time they’d have some strange weapon, device, or superpower that made everyone question their and Hawk Moth’s design choices: giant bubble containers, outlandish hairdos, odd-colored skin.

But this one was all about love.

Not in the same way as others before her, though. You had Zombizou, for example, looking for everyone to love each other; or Loveater, chomping down on all the love they could find. This one only cared about a specific pair of superheroes.

“My lady, wait, the cataclysm!”

Chat’s warning was met with a look of horrified realization as Ladybug reached forward to try and get hold of the lucky charm she had just flung in her partner’s direction— only to be pulled back by the cuff and barely miss it by an inch. Chat tried and failed to pull himself up by the wrist and catch the object with his left hand, and instead reflexively caught it in his right. The cloth pulverized within his grasp in a moment, in a cataclysm that had been supposed to get rid of Chat Noir’s floating restraint.

They both stared at each other in shock, and the akuma, who had already started her retreat, looked back, mischievous disbelief in her eyes as a grin crept back onto her face.

“Oops! Well, this just got veeery interesting!” She stopped and turned around on the glider she was using to move through the air, then sat down on it and rested her head on her hands, smiling mockingly at the immobilized heroes.

Her entire getup seemed extremely corny and out of place, but then again, so did every akuma’s: It was a bright pink with heart motifs and puffy sleeves, her hairdo somehow formed heart-shaped loops around her head like a halo with ribbons streaming out of it, and she had a headband with two antennae that ended in hearts. Her glider was pink and heart-shaped, too.

“I guess now it’s just a matter of time...” she said dreamily, eyes shooting back and forth between her captives. “The only thing keeping you from realizing that you’re soulmates will disappear any minute now when you de-transform! You won’t have to keep any secrets from each other anymore! This is so perfect!” Her glider did a little twirl as she clapped her hands in excitement. “Sure is a shame about the city, though…” She looked around at the havoc she had wreaked around Paris: The pink-splattered walls, the civilians accidentally cuffed to each other, to cars, to light poles. The collapsed shop windows and upside-down vehicles. The look on her face was ever-so-slightly sheepish. “Oh, well. I’m sure they’ll manage somehow.”

“Without the lucky charm…” Ladybug started, still in shock. “No, there has to be another way, I can use another lucky charm, we can still—”

“Stop.” She was interrupted by her partner, who was still holding onto the cuff with his free hand. “Ladybug, we… I can’t believe this is how it happens.” He looked at his restraint, he looked at Ladybug, he looked at the akuma and the city underneath him and chuckled a tired, bitter laugh. “It’s so stupid.”

“Hey! I take offense by that. I did beat you, after all.” The akuma got tauntingly close. “Though you did help a bit with that whole ‘destroying the lucky charm’ thing, that was a real stroke of good luck… Oh! bad choice of words.” She giggled and continued looking at the heroes as if they were prizes.

“It’s like New York all over again” Ladybug was holding her head in her hands, visibly trembling. She was slipping, she could not allow herself to keep failing, she could not allow herself to let all of Paris down. She could not let her partner down. “What do we do now, Chat? How do we put an end to this, how can we even start?” Maybe Master Fu had been wrong to trust her as Ladybug, let alone as the Guardian. A black spot blinked off from her earrings.

“We can’t.” Chat’s head dropped between his arms. “It’s already over.” He had destroyed the lucky charm. Ladybug had trusted him to support her, to do his job, and he had messed everything up. Now there was no miraculous cure, and they were minutes away from de-transforming with basically no way out. “I just can’t believe this is how everything ends.”

He looked at his lady, he looked at the akuma, who continued to watch on intently as one would a movie. He sighed again. “At least this is the last secret we’ll have to keep.” It’d all be over, then. No use for any of this. His ring beeped as the first green toe print blinked off.

A glowing butterfly shape appeared in front of the akuma’s face. “What are you doing?” Hawk Moth’s impatient voice rang inside her head, “Seize their miraculous already!”

“NO!” The akuma replied in a loud, squeaky tone, “IT HAS TO BE ROMANTIC AND DRAMATIC! SHUT UP, MOTHMAN!” The two heroes looked at her short tantrum and then at each other, a light blush making its way into both of their faces. Then, Ladybug’s eyes widened.

She knew how to get them out of this. A new lucky charm had to work; she was sure she had done it before.

She looked at Chat and pleaded that he got the plan, that she wouldn’t hurt him; goodness, please, don’t be hurt by this.

“Like you ever even cared about the secrets, anyway.” Her voice faltered, but the bait seemed to get the akuma’s attention. “You complained endlessly about how they were just getting in our way, but honestly? I’ve always known better. I’ve always seen right through you.”

Chat looked at her in shock for a second, the cogs started turning in his head, but the blow after blow of sharp nonsense coming out of Ladybug’s mouth blindsided him. “What do you mean?” he tried to buy himself some time to understand.

“I mean you don’t actually care. And I don’t, either.” Her hands started sweating, but she powered on through. “Truth is, I don’t care who is under the mask. I don’t care if you’re just some guy or if you’re prince Ali himself.” She was panicking now, and she could just hope that her voice was not betraying her and that she was not about to completely shatter her partner’s heart. “I don’t know that I could bring myself to care about you at all without the mask.”

His disbelief turned into hope, and that hope fueled his understanding. He had to believe that this was a strategy to throw the akuma off. It was so out of character for her to say something like this; he could not imagine how he would even begin to deal with her shutting him down this harshly, this painfully. He swallowed the knot that had started to form in his throat and forced out a reply.

“You mean you could tell this whole time? And I could have been saving time with the whole lovesick fool act? Man, you should have told me!” He could tell he sounded unsure, his voice breaking and his jaw stammering every other word. But Ladybug’s sly smile melted all his doubts away. He had been right, and if the akuma’s shocked face was any indication, they were playing her like a fiddle: His Lady’s plan was working (like her plans always did).

“Oh, yeah!” She relaxed too when she saw Chat play along, “I was starting to get worried that you’d end up meaning it one day.”

He chuckled and let himself fall into the banter. “Believe it? Bug, do you have any idea how weird that would be? I mean, yeah, we’re coworkers, but it would be weird to like… know each other, you know?”

“No, you’re right, you’re right.”

“Besides, it would sort of take the fun out of it, right?”

“Oh, totally. It would... kill the magic, so to speak.”

The akuma, who had been avidly listening to their conversation, perked up at this, eyes wide open in alarm. “Wait, what do you mean kill the magic?” She stood up with a start.

Ladybug smirked. “Oh, you know. How mystery always makes things more exciting.”

Chat smirked and looked right at Ladybug. “I mean, what even is our relationship if you’re not a mysterious girl capable of kicking my ass at any given moment?” He winked, and the akuma rushed forward, face burning red. “Stop that right now! You two are meant to be, and I’ll prove it myself! Give me your miraculous!” She messily charged toward Ladybug, going straight for the earrings. The last thing she heard was Hawk Moth’s exasperated voice yelling “No, wait!” inside her head before she felt Ladybug stop her with a shove to the shoulder, then sweep her feet from under her and snatch her headband, all in one swift motion. She felt the world go dark for a second as the heroine snapped the accessory in half, letting out a black butterfly. Chat Noir could only watch in smitten awe as his lady purified the akuma and set it free... and then his cuff disappeared and left him free-falling, heading straight to the ground. But of course, before he could even reach his staff to break his fall, Ladybug was already swinging in to scoop him up and deliver him and a confused, freshly de-transformed civilian safely back on top of the Eiffel Tower.

“I already had that, but thank you.”

“Of course you did, kitty. You were doing all of the appropriate flailing around.” She shoved him playfully, and he rolled his eyes and put his fist up for her to bump. But her earrings beeped and one last spot blinked off.

“Hold that thought, be right back.” Her voice was slightly panicked, and she rushed inside the room at the top of the tower that they had been inside so many times now, practically diving into the floor before her transformation finally dropped, and an exhausted Tikki floated down into her open hands. Chat took this opportunity (with the girl still sitting on the floor, taking in her surroundings) to duck behind one of the pillars facing the stairwell to let Plagg take a break before tying everything up. 

“I’m so sorry, Tikki”, said Marinette while the kwami made quick work of a chocolate chip cookie. “I promise it won’t happen again.” Tikki finished eating and looked back at Marinette with a kind but condemning look in her eyes. “It’s okay, Marinette. Just don’t make a habit of it, it felt weird.” The kwami shuddered and both of them giggled. “Shall we?”

Both heroes walked out of their respective covers fully charged up and ready to finish the job. The akumatized girl was back on her feet and looking around in confusion. “Sorry about that,” started Ladybug, “We just needed a little recharge. Is everything okay?”

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, Ladybug! I am so sorry, Chat! I completely lost it back there, I don’t know what I was thinking!” the girl apologized frantically.

Chat placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, uh…”

“Sarah. But seriously, I’m sorry. I never realized I had such strong… feelings about the two of you being together. I guess shipping real people really is best left alone.”

“Probably, yes.” Ladybug chuckled. “Well, Sarah, ready for a lift home?”

“Wait! if it’s not too much trouble, can I stay and see your lucky charm? I know it kind of got messed up because of me, but…”

Chat quickly butted in “Oh, no, it wasn’t your fault at all. Well, maybe a little bit, but I think we can all carry some of the blame here.”

“Sure, let’s get that done first, then we’ll take you home.” Ladybug summoned her lucky charm, and a small, polka-dotted string of assorted beads fell into her hands. “Huh, I wonder what this—” She took a moment to recognize the charm but, sure enough, it was strikingly similar to the one she had given Adrien so long ago. Her face lit up bright red and she didn’t wait a moment before throwing it up and yelling the most desperate “MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!” she had ever uttered.

Much to her relief, however, the magic ladybugs spread throughout the city quickly, undoing all of the damage caused by the fight. She let out a long, relieved sigh.

“That was so cool!” Sarah jumped up and down in glee “I didn’t really see the charm, though, what was it?” She was still looking up at the sky. Ladybug smiled awkwardly, and then let herself feel a little warm inside. “Oh, you know. Just a regular lucky charm.”

Chat had seen enough of the object to feel very confused, and more than a little curious. They bumped fists, and he made a point of listening to her voice, and how it sounded like home.

“Well, I’ll be your ride home today, madam.” He bowed to Sarah in that exaggerated way he always did, and readied his staff for takeoff, extending out an arm for the girl to hold onto him. “Hey, m’lady?” he called to Ladybug when he saw her start to walk away, “can we meet back here tonight to talk?”

“Sure, why?”

“I need to ask you something.”

That night the two heroes met again under the cover of the night sky, illuminated by the warm lights of the Eiffel tower. When Ladybug got there, Chat had already been waiting for her anxiously for a little while. He greeted her and turned right back to look out at the city.

“So… what did you want to talk about?” She stood next to him, leaning on the railing and looking at the Parisian landscape. The cool night breeze blew softly around them for a moment, settling them into a comfortable silence as Chat organized his thoughts and tried to find the best way to say what was on his mind.

“I don’t—” the words felt wrong immediately after coming out of his mouth. He stopped himself and let out a heavy, troubled sigh. “Do you think we will ever be able to stop keeping secrets from each other?”

The question hit Ladybug like a brick to the face.

“Chat, I... you know how it is. We can’t—”

“I know, I know. Not right now. But… do you think we will ever know?” He looked back down at the city, the sparkling lights, the busy streets even this late at night. “Sorry. I know it’s dumb, I know that’s just how things are.”

Ladybug’s mind was in a different place already. Or rather, in a different time.

She was on top of the last building standing in a desolate, wiped out Paris. She could almost hear Chat’s broken voice, singing, waiting for a Ladybug that was never coming back.

_Once the cat is out of the bag, it's only a matter of time 'till everyone knows._

_It was our love that did this to the world, m'lady._

He had been wrong then. It was never their love that destroyed everything. It was her. Her recklessness, her lack of self-control. She would always be scared of even thinking about who could be under the mask to render her so careless.

She turned to him with a heavy chest, without looking at him, and could only mutter “it’s not stupid.”

In any other context, his heart would have soared, he would have been hopeful, but one look at the expression on his partner’s face reminded him that there was more to everything, and that the huge weight on Ladybug’s shoulders was meant to be carried by her alone. He placed a hand on her back. She sighed and pulled him into a tight hug, barely holding herself together enough to avoid crying into his shoulder.

When they finally let go, she gave him one more sad look.

“Go home, kitty.” 

And she left.

Chat Noir took off too. He could not even be disappointed. He could not be mad at Ladybug, much less now that she had the future of at least an entire city on her shoulders. It had become more and more apparent to him over time just how important it had to be for the secrets to stay unspoken, for her to hold on to them so desperately.

At least he knew he would break with that kind of weight on his shoulders.

He could not help but go back whenever Ladybug looked at him like that. He could only feel the guilt and the shame and the weariness of his months with the snake miraculous, trying to save the day, to make her proud, to prove himself to her. To prove that Adrien Agreste was worth something, anything, more than a pretty face and a magic ring.

He tried to make everything perfect, to save her life over and over again. He stopped caring and told her the truth dozens of times, maybe hoping deep down that it would stick. He treated these timelines as freebies, he watched her get taken hundreds of times, only to plunge right back to the start and stubbornly keep trying. Everything to fulfill his own stupid, dangerous fantasy.

When he vaulted into his bedroom and de-transformed, he had been trying to convince himself for a while.

Maybe it was better off this way.


End file.
